DOCG Red

Masi Riserva Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG

Azienda Agricola Masi
Grapes
Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Oseleta
Denomination
Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG
Region
Veneto
ABV
15.5%
Body
Medium
Drink
Now to 2045

Masi's Riserva Costasera is its top selection of Costasera, with 10% of the rare Oseleta grape and at least three years in oak. Dried-grape depth, cherry jam, cocoa and spice at 15.5%. UK prices run from £59 to £78 a bottle.

Best price
£56.00 Save 7%

2019 · 75cl · checked 26 Sep

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Vintages 2019 2018

Prices read daily from 4 UK retailers. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.

Where to buy Masi Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva

£56.00 best price · 4 retailers in stock · checked 27 Sep 2026

Stock is shown where the retailer publishes it, offers are sorted by price, and unavailable offers can’t be clicked.

Xtrawine Best price Save 7% 2019 · 75cl · checked 26 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£56.00 was regular price £60.00 £74.67/L
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Vino Best price Save 5% 2019 · 75cl · checked 27 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£61.00 was regular price £64.21 £81.33/L
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Cellier Best price 2019 · 75cl · checked 27 Sep
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£71.99 £95.99/L
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Millesima Best price 2018 · 75cl · checked 22 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£78.40 £104.53/L
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Stock status is read from each retailer’s page once a day and may lag.

Tasting Notes

What Masi's Riserva Costasera tastes like

Masi describes an opaque dark red wine with super-ripe fruit, cinnamon and vanilla on the nose, then baked fruit, sweet spices and cloves on the palate. The notes below add what 976 Vivino reviewers and critic Natalie MacLean found in the glass.

Tasted by
ItalianWines editorial (Vivino drinker consensus, 7,512 ratings)
Tasted on
2 September 2026
Source
Drinker consensus · confidence Medium
Taste profile
Body Light / Full
Tannins Smooth / Grippy
Sweetness Dry / Sweet
Acidity Soft / Crisp
Nose

Masi's own note leads with super-ripe fruit, cinnamon and vanilla, and Vino.com's sheet lists the same cinnamon, red fruit and vanilla. On Vivino, 976 written reviews of this Riserva mention chocolate, coffee and oak more than anything else. Plum and blackberry come next, then raisin and prune from the months the grapes spend drying on bamboo racks.

CoffeeCoffee
Black cherryBlack cherry
PlumPlum
PrunePrune
LeatherLeather
CinnamonCinnamon
VanillaVanilla
CocoaCocoa
Palate

Full and warm at 15.5%, with cherry jam, cooked plum and bitter cocoa. The 10% of Oseleta, a small thick-skinned grape Masi replanted in 1985, adds colour and firm tannin to the softer Corvina. Critic Natalie MacLean found 'plush tannin and bright acidity' in the 2019.

Finish

Long and dry, ending on cloves, dried date and roasted coffee rather than sweetness. Three years in Slavonian and French Allier oak leave a vanilla edge that softens with a decade in bottle.

Overall

This is Masi's top selection of Costasera and a serious cellar wine: the house gives it a 30 to 35 year life. Drinkers rate it 4.3 out of 5 across 7,512 Vivino ratings, and the 2019 scores 4.4 from 107 ratings, level with the 2017. Best from 2025 with slow-cooked beef or game; the 2018 is the lighter, earlier-drinking buy.

Drink now Best by 2045
Live UK pricing

Where to buy Riserva Costasera in the UK, and what to pay

Four UK shops list the Riserva today, from £59 at Xtrawine for the 2019 to £78 at Millesima for the 2018, with Vino.com's 2019 on offer at £65. The standard Costasera costs about £45; the Riserva's Oseleta and its longer ageing, four years by law against two, explain the gap.

Best price · 75 cl £56.00 at xtrawine
Price spread £56.00 - £78.40 Across 4 UK retailers tracked
Retailers tracked 4UK 4 in stock
Vintages live 2019 · 2018 Current release: 2019
Per-litre (75 cl basis) £74.67 Per-litre price for the lowest current offer
Last checked 27 Sep 2026 Refreshed once every 24 hours
Wine fit score

How Riserva Costasera scores on the Italian Wine Fit Score

Four scores out of ten, from how well it suits food to how safe a gift it is. Masi's Riserva scores high for cellar and occasion and lower for value, which is what a £59 to £78 Amarone Riserva should do.

Best for an occasion 9.2/10

Italy's top DOCG tier and a Riserva from one of Amarone's best-known houses. Critic Natalie MacLean gave the 2019 96 points; a safe gift or celebration bottle.

Best for cellar 9.0/10

DOCG Riserva rules require four years of ageing before release, and Masi rates the wine for 30 to 35 years. On Vivino the 2005 and 2006 still score higher than any recent vintage.

Best with food 8.4/10

A big 15.5% dried-grape red, with fresh acidity in the 2019. Superb with braises, game, lamb and aged cheese; too heavy for fish, salads and weeknight plates.

Best value 6.6/10

£59 at Xtrawine buys a DOCG Amarone Riserva from a leading house, aged four years and rated 4.3 by over 7,500 Vivino drinkers. The standard Costasera costs about £45, so the Riserva premium is moderate.

Best intro to this style 5.2/10

A famous, reliable name with a soft, sweet-fruited style. But 15.5% alcohol, firm Oseleta tannin and a £59-plus price make it a second Amarone rather than a first.

Best everyday bottle 2.0/10

At £59 to £78 a bottle and 15.5% alcohol, this is a wine for a long dinner, not a Tuesday. The 2018 is the earlier-drinking of the two vintages on sale.

Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.

Denomination Compliance Snapshot

Amarone della Valpolicella in five fields

A compact view of what the Amarone della Valpolicella denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.

Allowed grapes
3 varieties listed
This bottle: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Oseleta.
Minimum ageing
24 months minimum
No oak ageing required.
Region / area
Verona
Source: Disciplinare.
Style
DOCG · Amarone della Valpolicella
Minimum ABV at this colour: 14.0%.
Classification
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)
What that means →
Vintages

2018 or 2019 Riserva Costasera: which to buy

The 2019 comes from a year Valpolicella producers rank among their best, cool in spring and warm through summer. The 2018 was patchier, with a cold wet start and a stormy finish, and drinks a little lighter and earlier.

2019 Current release
Best price
£56.00
Retailers
3 in stock
ABV
15.5%
Window
Drink now through 2045

2019 had a cool, rainy spring and a warm but not extreme summer, with harvest in mid-September. Producers rank it among the best recent Amarone years: deep colour, ripe fruit and a fresh line of acidity. Critic Natalie MacLean gives the 2019 Riserva a 2026 to 2050 window.

2018 Previous release
Best price
£78.40
Retailers
1 in stock
ABV
15.5%
Window
Drink now through 2040

2018 in Valpolicella began cold and wet, then finished hot with summer storms, so ripeness varied from vineyard to vineyard. The vintage chart calls the 2018 Amarones a little lighter, with fresher acidity. Drink this Riserva from now to about 2040.

2019 Current release
Best price
£56.00
Retailers
3 in stock
ABV
15.5%
Window
Drink now through 2045

2019 had a cool, rainy spring and a warm but not extreme summer, with harvest in mid-September. Producers rank it among the best recent Amarone years: deep colour, ripe fruit and a fresh line of acidity. Critic Natalie MacLean gives the 2019 Riserva a 2026 to 2050 window.

Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.

The disciplinare, the place, the label

Amarone Riserva rules, and how Masi meets them

Amarone della Valpolicella is a DOCG, Italy's top tier, and its rules hold a Riserva back at least four years from the harvest. Masi keeps this wine a minimum of three years in casks of Slavonian and French Allier oak, and Oseleta has been an approved Amarone grape since 2003.

01

DOC, DOCG, IGT: what the badges mean

Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.

Amarone della Valpolicella is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.

02

The denomination rules, in detail

  • Allowed grapes. 3 varieties listed in the disciplinare
  • Yield ceiling. 12.0 tonnes per hectare
  • Minimum ABV. 14.0% vol
  • Minimum ageing. 24 months total
  • Tasting panel. Mandatory pre-release tasting commission
03

Region and area context

Amarone della Valpolicella falls within Veneto, covering Verona. The denomination is further divided into 2 sub-zones.

Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG zone The producer Wine routes in the zone

Made at Azienda Agricola Masi, Gargagnago di Valpolicella. Directions

Wine routes in the zone: Valpolicella Classico Loop, Strada del Vino Soave.

04

Reading the label

  • Azienda Agricola MasiProducer / estate
  • Corvina · Rondinella · Molinara · OseletaGrape varieties
  • Amarone della Valpolicella DOCGGeographic indication and quality tier
  • 2019Vintage (year of harvest)
  • 15.5% volAlcohol by volume
05

What sits behind the price of Masi Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva

Tracked from
£56.00
Direction
Mostly cost up
Drivers
5 up / 1 down
Main factor
Grapes dried on bamboo racks before pressing
  1. 01

    Ten per cent Oseleta, a grape that gives 30% less juice

    Cost up

    Masi replanted Oseleta in 1985 after it had been thought extinct, starting with plots smaller than three football pitches. Its small grapes and big pips give about 30% less juice than other Verona grapes, so every bottle costs more to make.

  2. 02

    Grapes dried on bamboo racks before pressing

    Cost up

    Amarone starts with whole bunches left to shrivel for months, which sheds water and volume. A bottle of Riserva Costasera needs far more fruit than a bottle of Valpolicella from the same hills, and that fruit is Masi's best selection.

  3. 03

    Four years before release, at least three of them in oak

    Cost up

    DOCG rules hold an Amarone Riserva back four years from the harvest. Masi keeps this one at least three years in Slavonian and French Allier oak: cellar space and money tied up before a single bottle sells.

  4. 04

    A special selection of Costasera

    Cost up

    Masi calls the Riserva a special selection of its Costasera, so only part of that wine is set aside for this label. In the UK it costs £59 to £78 against about £45 for Costasera itself.

  5. 05

    UK duty and VAT on a 15.5% wine

    Cost up

    At 15.5% alcohol, UK duty is £3.56 a bottle at the February 2026 rate of £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol. VAT then adds 20%. On the £59 Xtrawine price about £13.40 goes to the Treasury before the wine, the shipping or the shop take anything.

  6. 06

    Masi's scale: about 3.95 million bottles a year

    Cost down

    Masi is a big house, making about 3.95 million bottles a year, and that scale is what keeps a four-year-aged DOCG Riserva between £59 and £78 on UK shelves.

01

Ten per cent Oseleta, a grape that gives 30% less juice

Cost up

Masi replanted Oseleta in 1985 after it had been thought extinct, starting with plots smaller than three football pitches. Its small grapes and big pips give about 30% less juice than other Verona grapes, so every bottle costs more to make.

Perfect Pairings

Dishes that go with this wine

Beef stew, plated

Beef stew
Venison Stew, plated

Venison Stew
Lamb shank, plated

Lamb shank
Stilton, plated

Stilton
Food Pairing

Beef, game and blue cheese: what to eat with Riserva Costasera

At 15.5% with dried-grape richness and firm Oseleta tannin, this Riserva wants big, slow-cooked food. Masi suggests red meat, game and mature cheeses; Vivino's experts add beef, lamb, venison and blue cheese.

Tannin softening Strong match

Slow-cooked beef and braises

Fat and slow-cooked meat juices soften the firm Oseleta tannin in this Riserva, and the dried-fruit richness matches the sweetness of a long braise. Masi's first suggestion is red meat, and it is the safest match for a 15.5% Amarone.

Try with: Beef stew · Sunday Roast Beef · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Beef wellington · More pairings →

Body matching Strong match

Game and venison

Game is dark, dense and slightly sweet, the same weight as this wine. The cherry jam and cocoa in Riserva Costasera sit alongside venison or pheasant without either flavour losing. Critic Natalie MacLean names a rich venison stew for the 2019.

Try with: Venison Stew · Roast Pheasant · Duck breast · Roast Duck · More pairings →

Fat cutting Good match

Lamb, roasted or slow-cooked

The fresh acidity that the 2019 vintage gave this wine cuts through lamb fat, while its ripe fruit handles rosemary and garlic. Vivino's experts list lamb as a match for the Riserva.

Try with: Lamb shank · Leg of lamb · Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Rack of lamb · More pairings →

Salt balance Good match

Blue and aged cheeses

Salt in a blue or aged hard cheese makes the raisin and prune notes of a dried-grape wine taste sweeter and rounder. Masi suggests mature cheeses and Vivino's experts add blue cheese; this is the after-dinner pairing the producer has in mind.

Try with: Stilton · Blue cheese · Cheese board · Strong cheddar cheese

Aromatic bridge Good match

Northern Italian dishes with earthy, savoury depth

Porcini, truffle and slow-cooked veal share the earthy, roasted side that Vivino drinkers find in this wine: leather, smoke and cocoa. These are the dishes a Verona restaurant would put next to an Amarone Riserva.

Try with: Ossobuco alla Milanese · Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · Polenta alla Valdostana · More pairings →

Avoid Clash

Delicate seafood, sweet-and-sour sauces and chilli heat

At 15.5% alcohol the wine makes chilli burn hotter, and its firm tannin turns raw or delicate fish metallic. Sweet-and-sour sauces fight the dried-fruit sweetness rather than balancing it. Keep it for the meat course.

Skip with: Oysters · Nigiri Sushi · Sweet and sour pork · Green curry · Ceviche · Pairing guide →

Drinking + cellar

Cellaring Riserva Costasera: 30 years if you want them

Masi gives Riserva Costasera a 30 to 35 year life, and on Vivino the 2005 and 2006 still rate 4.5, higher than any recent year. The 2019 has the acidity to follow them; open the 2018 sooner.

Drinking window
2025 → 2045

Peak around 2032. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.

Decanting
30 minutes

A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.

Serving temperature
16-18°C

Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.

Cellar potential
High

DOCG Riserva rules require four years of ageing before release, and Masi rates the wine for 30 to 35 years. On Vivino the 2005 and 2006 still score higher than any recent vintage.

Buy now or wait?
Buy now

£56.00 for a 75cl bottle of the 2019, at Xtrawine, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.

Sources & trust

Sources behind this Riserva Costasera page

Prices & stock

Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 27 Sep 2026, 02:28 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.

Confidence · High
Tasting notes

Drawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.

Confidence · Medium
Appellation rules & ageing

From the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.

Confidence · High
Why it costs what it costs

Our reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.

Confidence · Medium
Drink window & cellar potential

Style guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.

Confidence · Medium
Related

Masi, Amarone and the Valpolicella pages linked to this wine

Producer
Azienda Agricola Masi Veneto
Grapes
Corvina Rondinella Molinara Oseleta
Denomination
Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG
Region
Veneto Region guide
Cuisine
British Cuisine 2 dishes paired International Cuisine 2 dishes paired

Common Questions

The Riserva is a special selection of Costasera. It adds 10% of the rare Oseleta grape and spends at least three years in oak, and Amarone Riserva rules hold it back four years from harvest. In the UK the Riserva costs £59 to £78, the standard Costasera about £45.

Corvina 70%, Rondinella 15%, Oseleta 10% and Molinara 5%, all local Verona grapes. Oseleta had been thought extinct until Masi replanted it in 1985; its thick skins and big pips give the Riserva extra colour and tannin.

Masi gives it a life of 30 to 35 years. The 2019 should drink well from 2025 to about 2045, and critic Natalie MacLean sets its window at 2026 to 2050. The 2018, from a patchier year, is better from now to about 2040. Serve at 18°C and open it an hour ahead.

Slow-cooked beef, game and lamb, then blue or aged cheese after the meal. Masi itself suggests red meat, game and mature cheeses. Avoid delicate fish, sweet-and-sour dishes and chilli heat, which the 15.5% alcohol makes fiercer.

Between £59 and £78 a bottle at the four UK shops we track. Xtrawine lists the 2019 at £59, Cellier at £72, and Millesima has the 2018 at £78. Vino.com has the 2019 on offer at £65, down from £81.

No, it is a dry wine. The grapes are dried on bamboo racks for months before pressing, which concentrates their sugar into 15.5% alcohol. That gives a ripe, jammy taste of cherry, prune and raisin, but the finish is dry and slightly bitter, like cocoa.

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Masi Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva
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